The present invention relates generally to packaging techniques for storing and dispensing nested articles such as ice-cream cones, cups and like food items subject to moisture deterioration, contamination and/or staling, and more particularly to a specific packaging concept and cooperating assembly and method for storing and dispensing a stack of nested ice cream cones and the like which are packaged for protection against moisture deterioration, contamination and/or staling.
In applicant's U.S. Pat. No. 4,079,858, granted Mar. 21, 1978, an article holder dispensing assembly is disclosed and provides for storing and dispensing nested articles such as ice cream cones or cups, foam insulated cups, or the like, and makes use of an elongate hollow cylindrical tube having a closed top end and open article-dispensing bottom end including clip means to releasably retain the articles within the container.
While the described dispenser assembly is quite satisfactory for storing nested drinking cups and similar non-edible articles, certain problems are encountered when the assembly is used for storing baked ice cream cones, cups and similar food items, particularly for long periods of time. Specifically, applicant has found that because the edible articles are placed within the assembly container in a totally exposed way, they are not only subject to contamination but also tend to lose desired characteristics of crispness and freshness due to moisture deterioration and/or staling. However, more important is the fact that the packages previously used with this dispenser assembly were provided for containing the ice cream cones or siimilar food items only until the latter were to be used in the dispenser assembly. This required opening the package and emptying the ice cream cones into the dispenser assembly, not only subjecting the cones to contamination as a result of their being handled during this procedure but also to the possibility of breakage.
As will be seen hereinafter, the present invention reduces the foregoing problems in a number of ways. First and foremost, the present invention provides a unitary, self-contained package for protectively transporting stacked nested food items subject to moisture deterioration, contamination and/or staling, such as ice cream cones, cups and the like. Second, the present invention provides an overall dispensing technique including the self-contained package itself which is directly fed into the dispensing apparatus and which provides protection for the food items until the latter are dispensed from the apparatus. In this regard, although the overall package including its contained food items is generally designed as a unitary self-contained dispensing package, it is specifically designed for cooperation with dispensing apparatus.